Halloween Fun with Brooklyn Celebs!

To celebrate Halloween, we used the free online editor Picnik -- which has a Halloween promotion going on -- to make these Brooklyn celebs SPOOKY! If you enjoy these, you can make your own Halloween special effects at Picnik, too:

Borough President Marty Markowitz, vampire, trapped in a crystal ball.

Bruce Ratner, zombie, with cool eyeballs.

Carl Paladino, running (for governor) and hiding (from the Brooklyn Orthodox Jewish community).

Oh, that Walt! He always cracks us up.

Origin of photos before retouching:
Photo of BP Markowitz by shooting brooklyn, Creative Commons

Photo of Bruce Ratner from Gothamist from the NY Post.

Photo of Carl Paladino from the NY Post.

Photo of Walt Whitman from Wikipedia.


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Brooklyn Halloween Parades

Want to join a Brooklyn Halloween parade? There are at least five that are free:

Carroll Gardens Halloween Parade: This is an early one! Gather at 12:30 p.m. in Carroll Park and parade up Smith Street toward Warren Street, then back down Court Street to the park. The first 100 kids to show up will receive free noisemakers.

Cobble Hill Halloween Parade, Cobble Hill Park, 4 p.m. Join the costume parade behind the Jah Pan Steel Drum Band, then trick-or-treat around the neighborhood.

Park Slope Halloween Parade: A Big One! this year’s theme is “Fairy Tales.” At 4 p.m. the Park Slope Civic Council’s Halloween Costume Contest will begin at 7th Avenue between Fourth and Fifth streets. After the contest, enjoy Ethan’s Motley Rockin’ Show. The main parade kicks off at 6:30 p.m. at the corner of Seventh Avenue and 14th Street and ends at Washington Park (formerly JJ Byrne Park), where the revelry will continue until 9 p.m. with music by Paprika, Hearts of Steel and the Famous Accordion Orchestra.

Witches’ Walk Halloween Parade In Williamsburg: Kids activities from 2-4:30 p.m. Meet at Flying Squirrel (96 North Sixth St. between Berry Street and Wythe Avenue) to get a free portrait taken by photographer, Rachel Elkind. Witches Walk Parade from 4:45 to 5:15 p.m. from N. Sixth Street and Bedford Avenue towards McCarren Park. End of parade party at Play at 33 Nassau Ave., 5:15 to 6:30 p.m. Call the Flying Squirrel at (718) 218-7775.

Ditmas Park West Midwood Halloween Parade: Meet where B/Q train lets out at Glenwood Road off Rugby. Parade proceeds down Glenwood Road to Westminster Road, passing through heart of Ditmas Park. Sweets and cider at 6 p.m., parade begins around 6:30 p.m.

There are more Brooklyn Halloween events, parties, spook houses, etc. listed here.

Ernie and Bert by Chattingjason, Creative Commons license.

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Beware 3D Glasses, Hung S&M Jury, and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Hung jury in Henry Street S&M trial.  Brooklyn Eagle

- It is a dirty little secret in NYC African American and Latino communities: young children killed while under the care of the mother's male companion. Room Eight 

- The Fulton Mall will always be the Fulton Mall no matter how much you paint it.  Observer 

- Two elderly drivers send four people to the hospital.  Gothamist

- "Do-Gooder" awards announced.  Brooklyn Eagle  

-  You have more to worry about in movie theaters than bedbugs: 3D glasses are crawling with bacteria and fecal matter. Gothamist 

- Why you should vote NO on both charter amendments. Daily Gotham

- Paladino's handling of his aunt's house involved "a curious chain of transactions."  NY Times  

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Yesterday's Rainbow Ended at Concord Village in Downtown Brooklyn

 This is the first time we've ever actually seen the freakin' end of a rainbow.

Yesterday's gigantic rainbow stretched all the way from somewhere in Manhattan to smack dab on top of this co-op building, part of Concord Village in Downtown Brooklyn.


(Supply your own sound effects for this video.)

Photo and video by MK Metz

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Handing Over Tobacco Warehouse in DUMBO 'Insulting': Flemming

 J. Peter Flemming has written a terrific letter to Nanette Smith, special assistant to Mayor Bloomberg, about the proposal to turn DUMBO's Tobacco Warehouse into a theater for commercial productions. 

Published in its entirety in the Brooklyn Eagle, it starts:

The idea that we should be grateful that your [Brooklyn Bridge Park] Board will have taken advantage of our communities’ and our then elected officials’ and the Landmarks Conservancy’s remarkable efforts in the late ’90s to save the Tobacco Inspection Warehouse as an historic and visually stunning “ruin” — to hand both the structure and the iconic site over to one private entity — for free — for it to construct a “cultural facility” now outside the Park, not a “part” of the Park, is completely disingenuous and quite insulting . . .

Read the whole letter here.

- RFP Issued for Tobacco Warehouse in DUMBO
- Tobacco Warehouse, Acute Corner, DUMBO

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Dog Fight in Cadman Park, the Brooklyn Fare Affair, and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Community activists are urging DOT to fix the dangerous intersection at Atlantic and Washington Ave. Huff Post

- Jewish patrols still controversial in Crown Heights.  Brooklyn Ink

- Recap of Brooklyn Bridge Park Advisory Council Meeting.  BHB

- There was a ferocious dog fight in Cadman Plaza Park yesterday.  Brooklyn Eagle

- The top ten Eater comments on the Brooklyn Fare Affair.  Eater 

- A woman will sue the city after tripping and fracturing her hip on the cracked slate outside Brooklyn Borough Hall.  Brooklyn Paper 

- Bedbugs have taken over the U.N.  NY Post

- Video: Charlie Sheen gets CGI treatment, finally.  Gothamist


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Galapagos Art Space Is Sending an Artist to Switzerland for Six Months

Got this message from Galapagos Art Space:

Galapagos Art Space is sending an artist to Switzerland for six months. Are you that artist?

Natural Selection: Artists in Residence.

Galapagos has partnered with IAAB, the International Exchange and Studio Program of the Canton of Basel, Switzerland, to each year offer an artist from New York City the opportunity to spend six months near Basel, in the Swiss countryside town of Riehen. In turn, we'll host a Swiss artist here.

The studio is situated in one of the old estate buildings on the "Berowergut", just next door to the Beyeler. When the barns located on the "Berowergut" were renovated and the Kunst Raum Riehen was installed, the old coach house at the back was converted into a two-story live-in studio.

The deadline for submissions is November 5th.

More here.

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'DUMBO Underwater' Up Now in DUMBO

Brooklyn-based artist Eric Corriel has a new video installation up in Dumbo called Dumbo Underwater.  Inspired by issues relating to climate change, DUMBO Underwater imagines what it might feel like if sea levels rose to the point where parts of New York City found themselves underwater.  

It will be up every night from sundown to sunrise until November 15th, 2010.  See Eric's website for more info.

VIDEO: http://www.vimeo.com/15409143

ON FLICKR: http://www.flickr.com/photos/eric_corriel/sets/72157625105283748/

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Halloween Zombie Walk Over Brooklyn Bridge to Save NYC Public Libraries

 Those hungry Zombie Librarians from Urban Librarians Unite wrote to us to announce a Halloween Zombie Walk in support of New York City's public libraries, to be held October 31, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. beginning at Cadman Plaza, Brooklyn and continuing over the Brooklyn Bridge and ending at New York City Hall. 

The Zombie Librarians say:

The Halloween Zombie Walk brings library-loving New Yorkers together for a day of public theater to draw public attention to the mid-year budget cuts faced by New York City's public libraries. What does any of this have to do with zombies? Simple: without libraries there are no brains, and zombies need to eat brains to live. 

With libraries across the city closed on weekends there is a desperate zombie food shortage. So New York City’s zombie librarians will be walking across the Brooklyn Bridge to City Hall to protest the drastic cuts to their food supply. These zombies are starving and without the support of the public library their future appears grim.

New York City's three library systems serve 8 million residents from 212 locations, numbering over 43 million visits in FY'09. Since the economic crisis began, library use has been at an all-time high, with many New Yorkers depending on their local library for access to the information, resources, and programs necessary to conduct job searches, complete their education, navigate the Internet, and access public services.

20 Percent Cuts Since 2008

Mayor Bloomberg’s projected mid-year budget adjustment will cut funding for libraries by $16.5 million - 5.4% across the board. This comes on the heels of a devastating August reduction of $30 million that decimated weekend library service. Three years of brutal cuts during the biggest economic crisis in a generation have reduced public library funding by a shocking $74.5 million since 2008, or 20%. 

Unless Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council maintain funding, libraries' ability to provide New Yorkers with job search help, afterschool tutoring, computer access and instruction, English classes, and research assistance will be sharply reduced by December 2010.

Dress in your bookish zombie best and march/shamble your way to City Hall to support your local library and feed your brain.

For more information on the Halloween Zombie Walk, please contact savenyclibraries@gmail.com

Photo by reynolds.james.e, Creative Commons license

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Gowanus Canal Update, Goat Head in Prospect Park, and More Brooklyn Briefs

- How Jed Walentas spends his days in Manhattan. Observer 

- All about Monday's  DEP's presentation to Community Board 6 about the Gowanus Canal Facilities Upgrades which will be completed in 2013. PMFA

- Zombies stagger across the Brooklyn Bridge and attack a parked taxi in Midtown, and some people just ignore them.  Brooklyn Eagle 

- Don't eat the “Salted Holland Herring” from Brighton Bazaar as it may be contaminated by Botulism. Sheepsheadbites 

- Goat head found in Prospect Park.  Gothamist 

- 100 Clark Street has been sold.  BHB

- NYC doesn't want to assign races to students.  Gothamist 

- The secrets of Building 92. Observer 


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Gregory Brothers and More, 'Caught in the Act' -- Wednesday, October 27th

Tonight on Brooklyn Independent Television at 10 p.m., catch the Gregory Brothers plus other Brooklyn artists and producers in "Caught in the Act." Here's more about the show:

The Gregory Brothers: Following their YouTube hits, Double Rainbow and Bed Intruder, BIT visits the Auto-Tune masters – three brothers and one wife – in their Williamsburg studio.

Artist to Artist: Gustave Blache III’s paintings feature everyday people at work, in a light-filled style that takes you back 150 years. The photographs of his friend (and fellow School of Visual Arts alum) Kareem Black are as edgy and topical as could be.

Da Beatminerz: Hard at work in Da Bushwick, these Gold Record hip-hop producers have their own Beatminerz Radio station. Join them as they create one of the multitude of beats they’re famous for.

Sangram Majumdar: This painter—born in India, educated in Rhode Island and Indiana, living in Brooklyn – talks while he works out a new idea.

BIT is on  TimeWarner 56, RCN 84, Cablevision 69, Verizon 44

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More Details on Radio Shack Robbery, Brooklyn Heights

The Brooklyn Eagle reports that those police helicopters buzzing over Brooklyn Heights yesterday morning were related to the robbery that took place at the Radio Shack on Montague Street.

The Eagle reports that the robbers -- holding an employee at gunpoint -- cleaned out the cash register and stole several iPods. It’s believed the crooks also used an UPS truck to drive out of the neighborhood.

More here. 

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All Hallows Eve Bash at One Brooklyn Bridge Park

The Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy's Junior Committee sent us this information about their first Halloween party -- the All Hallows Eve Bash. The bash will be held at One Brooklyn Bridge Park (360 Furman Street, entrance through retail on waterside of building) on Saturday, October 30, 8:00pm-1:00am
 

More details from the Junior Committee:

Enjoy cocktails - including Blood and Sand, a signature Halloween cocktail provided by Highland Park Scotch Whiskey, music, dancing, a costume contest, video decoration by local artist Geoff Matters, festive atmosphere and more. All proceeds support free public programming in Brooklyn Bridge Park.

All ticket prices include admission, drinks, music, food, dancing and costume contest.

- Mischief Maker: $400 Friend Pack for 10 - (deadline pushed to 10/29 due to popularity)

- Prankster: $100 VIP tickets (includes a special gift bag with the new book, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents Earth (The Book): A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race, Highland Park Scotch Whiskey, Conservancy-shirts and more.)

- Trickster: $50 in advance/ $65 at the door

Buy Tickets here


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Radio Shack on Montague Street Robbed Tuesday Morning

The Radio Shack on Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights was robbed in a brazen Tuesday morning heist, according to the Brooklyn Eagle.

The Eagle says that the robbers used a UPS truck and may have worn UPS uniforms.

More here.

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It's Coming!!! A Pre-Halloween Stroll Around Brooklyn

In case you weren't aware of it, Halloween is coming. People seem to be throwing themselves into it a bit more than usual this year.

 The window at Perfect Paws in Brooklyn Heights (don't forget the Howl-o-Ween Doggie Costume Parade this Saturday!) features a pumpkin bearing the words, "Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet." It's stuffed with rubber chickens and a witch.

This window ledge on Atlantic Avenue always puts on a good display, no matter the holiday.

They weren't quite finished with this stairway but it's shaping up nicely.

 Maybe the scariest thing in this window is the "Grade Pending" sign.

If you need a costume or a wig, better get it now. You know how those lines get at Ricky's right before Halloween!

 Ricky always goes out of his way to make you feel comfortable.

 There he is again, a little taller this time.

An employee said that the most popular costumes are Lady Gaga and Snooki.

But we liked these best.

Another satisfied Ricky's customer.

Photos by MK Metz

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Owner of Gold's Gym Criticized for Donating Millions to Anti-Gay Political Group

Gay groups have publicized a petition demanding answers from Gold's Gym about the $2 million donated by its owner -- Robert Rowling -- to American Crossroads, Salon reports. American Crossroads, says Salon, is spending millions to elect GOP candidates who are anti-gay  -- like Roy Blunt, who wants to rewrite the U.S. Constitution to ban gay marriage.

Gold's Gyms are located all across the country. Pictured above is the gym on Livingston Street in Downtown Brooklyn, one of two Gold's Gyms in Brooklyn.

The online petition has gained about 3,000 signatures

The petition says that Gold's "markets and caters to LGBT customers," but unfortunately, "the candidates that Rowling's money is being used to elect are some of the most vehemently anti-gay politicians in the country."

Photo courtesy of Google Maps

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Smith Street Soup Festival Our New Favorite Brooklyn Thing

What a great idea -- the Smith Street Soup Festival was a blast and the soups were outstanding. Saturday afternoon crowds of people walked up and down Smith Street in Boerum Hill, getting little cups of soup at 21 participating Smith Street restaurants.

We sampled delicious pasta fagiole from Lunetta, spinach and lentil soup from Bar Tabac (shown above), mulligatawny from Raga, lobster bisque from Verde, a creamy vegetable soup from Athena and many more. All it cost was $5 for a little blue wristband.

Some restaurants set up tables on the sidewalk, while others set up inside. There were long lines in front of many but they moved very fast (it was just soup, after all). The lines attracted more soup eaters who wanted to know, "What's going on here? How do we get some soup?"

The restaurants started running out a little early. They probably didn't anticipate how popular this event was going to be.

The Soup Festival -- instigated by Bette Stoltz, of the South Brooklyn LDC -- was a benefit for the HS For International Studies Culinary Arts Program and the South Brooklyn LDC.


UPDATE: PMFA has the winners of the gold and silver "ladels" here.


Photos by MK Metz

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Good Times at Packer's Pumpkin Patch, Brooklyn Heights

This weekend was just full of kid-friendly Halloween-themed activities in Brooklyn, and the weather gods smiled down on all of them. Here are a few photos from a Brooklyn Heights favorite, Packer's annual Pumpkin Patch. Every year the Pumpkin Patch takes over Joralemon Street, several floors at Packer Collegiate Institute and the back school yard.

Kids decorated apples with marshmallows, gumdrops and the ever popular cocktail umbrellas.

Joralemon Street was full of bouncy rides and carnival games. Every year we wish we could do this one.

The Packer PTA puts unbelievable effort into the Pumpkin Patch. This boy had a conversation with a friendly little ghost at one of not one but two haunted houses.

 This popular contest features two kids vying against each other to see who will be the first to pump up their balloon till it pops. Every time a balloon burst, it was incredibly loud and very satisfying.

Saturday, the Harvest Festival at Brooklyn Bridge Park was also a big hit.

- Packer Pumpkin Patch 2009 
- Packer Pumpkin Patch 2008  

Photos by MK Metz

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Kanye West at Brooklyn Bowl, Taxi Problems, and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Kanye West appeared onstage at Brooklyn Bowl Sunday morning, wearing a "hubcap-sized gold eagle's head pendant, a gargantuan two-finger pyramid ring and what appeared to be a hooded black terrycloth bathrobe." (Video) Rolling Stone

- Turns out the floor of the Narrows and Gravesend Bay has been littered with thousands of rounds of live ammo since a military accident in 1954. NY Post 

- Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation has hired a firm to explore how the park can be funded with sources other than high-rise housing. Brooklyn Eagle 

- Man claims a taxi dragged him, injuring his head, after refusing to take him to Brooklyn.  Gothamist 

- Sheepshead Bay mosque is back on.  Brooklyn Paper

- Holy Hipsters! Religion is breaking out in Williamsburg.  NY Post

- 'Best Pizza in Williamsburg' opens its doors. Brooklyn365  

- So the world may not actually end in 2010.  NY Magazine

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Harvest Festival at Brooklyn Bridge Park a Hit

Families by the hundreds trekked to the fall Harvest Festival at Brooklyn Bridge Park's Pier 6 Saturday morning. There was a sweet little pumpkin patch on a grassy hill, which toddlers loved, along with activities like arts and crafts, face painting, and pumpkin decorating.

 Kids decorated picture frames in an activity provided by Half Pint Kids.

Pumpkin decorating.

 Ditch Plains (Drop-In) fried up mini-dogs.

The Deedle Dee’s provided entertainment.

It was one of the first of several Halloween-themed events taking place in Brooklyn this weekend.

Photos by MK Metz

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Brooklyn Halloween Events This Weekend (October 23 -24)

Halloween starts early this year, with two full weekends of events, especially for kids.

On Saturday there's a Harvest Festival at Brooklyn Bridge Park's Pier 6, the Gravsend Inn Haunted Hotel at City Tech (pretty impressive, even for grownups), Halloween plays, a pumpkin patch fest, spooky stuff at the NY Aquarium, Ghouls and Gourdes at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and Packer's Pumpkin Patch festival.

Complete listings of these and more can be found at the Brooklyn Eagle (all Brooklyn events) and Mommy Poppins (NYC events)

Photo by MK Metz

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Harvest Festival on Brooklyn Bridge Park's Pier 6 Saturday

Have kids? Don't forget to get down to Pier 6 tomorrow for a celebration of fall (and one of the first Halloween celebrations) at the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy's Harvest Festival.

There will be a Halloween parade, musical guests, face painting, storytelling, art activities, and pumpkin decorating. Children will pot plants in honor of "It's My Park Day," and make masks for Halloween.

On the stage: The Deedle Deedle Dee's and a storyteller will perform. The Transit Museum, Brooklyn Historical Society and American Ballet Theatre will host tables, and Half Pint Citizens will be in the sandbox leading a fun family craft activity, Autumn Leaves Picture Frames.

Various other local organizations and partners will host activity tables. The Moxie Spot will also bring their Halloween bags for children to decorate and the Pier 6 dog run volunteers will host a fun activity for your pooch.

Photo of pumpkin (carved by Brooklyn's Hugh McMahon) by MK Metz

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Fleabag Hotel, Smith Street Soup Festival, and More Brooklyn briefs

- New stop work order placed on 185 Ocean Ave.  Hawthorn Street 

- Get ready for the Smith Street Soup Festival this Saturday!  PMFA 

- Brooklyn Community Foundation announced the Do-Gooder finalists.  Brooklyn Eagle

- The Desk Set is hosting the Brooklyn Public Library's Gala afterparty at Brooklyn Bowl. Live music, open bar and a heck of a lot cheaper than the Gala.  The Deskset 

- Assemblymember DenDekker introduced a bill  that would give $100 to motorists whose parking tickets are dismissed by the city. Queens Crap 

-  At a meeting between Moses Fried, owner of "the fleabag" 205 Parkside and concerned neighbors, it was learned that construction will start soon, and the owner has no plans to run a brothel.  The Q at Parkside

- More than 60 comments (so far) about the Prospect Park West bikelane protests at Brownstoner.

- Both children and adults take naps under the covers in beds at the packed Beijing IKEA. NY Mazazine


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Now Kids Can Prepare for Their Future at McDonalds

So we took a stroll inside the Toys "R" Us pop-up store on Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn the other day, just because it's been a long time since we've been in a Toys "R" Us.

Wow, that store is just sad. They never painted the dingy walls after Sids Hardware moved out. The toys seem a bit worse than you would expect, even in a Toys "R" Us pop-up -- Hannah Montana branded plastic stuff, the least-glamorous Barbies  we've ever seen. (The Nerf guns were good, however. Nerf guns are always good.)

Above: McDonalds fast food counter toys -- now your kids can put on the McDonalds hat and practice slinging burgers and fries like a real McDonalds worker! If you buy both sets your child can set up a McDonald's grill, fryer and soda machine at home -- plus a golden arches counter and a drive-thru intercom. And yes, the cash register "really rings."

What a wonderful way to prepare your child for his or her future career!

Photo by MK Metz

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Ecopolis Café in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn

 The Ecopolis Café at 180 Smith (at Warren)  in Boerum Hill sells "local sustainable food and drinks" and organic teas. The café uses biodegradable and recycled paper, recycles materials and composts scraps.

This bar is made from salvaged materials, and power come from solar panels on the roof.

 The whole building is made from "eco-friendly materials and features energy efficient systems," according to the Brooklyn Ecopolis website, which also says that the Brooklyn Ecopolis Resource Center will provide programs and exhibits for children and adults, "involving all members of the community in practical and realistic ways, to engage and promote sustainable living."

Photos by MK Metz

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New Website Links NYC Service Providers with Customers

Say you're a dog walker, tutor or a handyman -- in other words, one of New York City's unsung service entrepreneurs.  A new website called SkillSlate  provides a place for you to list your service(s), price, geographical area and customer reviews.

SkillSlate, in an email, tells us they have 650 service providers in Brooklyn "and growing," and they just announced $1 million in venture funding yesterday. So far, there are ten categories of services covered: cleaner, DJ, dog walker, hairdresser, handyman, massage, mover, personal trainer, photographer, and tutor.

The website is new so there are only a few reviews so far. It's funny how seeing a photo of the service provide might influence who you will call. Also, it's amazing to see the big difference in rates. One dog walker charges $75 an hour; another charges $20.

One thing to remember is that handymen who charge more than $200 for a job are supposed to be licensed and bonded (insured). (Here's a handy Dept. of Consumer Affairs booklet about that.) To find out if a handyman is licensed, call 311 or go to www.nyc.gov/consumers

SkillSlate appears to be very helpful to both service providers and those looking for one. Check it out.

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Immigrants Gather in Brooklyn to Protest 'Secure Communities Program' Deportations

Hundreds of immigrants gathered in Cadman Plaza Park in Downtown Brooklyn yesterday for a rally and a march over the Brooklyn Bridge to City Hall to protest what they call unfair deportations.

Make the Road New York (MRNY), which sponsored the march, says that each year the city's Department of Corrections assists Immigration and Customs Enforcement in transferring 3,000-4,000 New Yorkers into deportation proceedings.

MRNY says if you are arrested and unable to produce immigration documents -- even if you are wrongfully arrested and acquitted of all charges -- you could still be placed in deportation proceedings.

The group is demanding that New York City opt out of the federal "Secure Communities Program" whereby local and state police can check the immigration status of those in their custody. The government says the program has successfully removed thousands of alien criminals from the U.S., but civil rights workers say many non-criminal immigrants are swept up and out as well.

Date shows that "police officers are picking up people on pretext, the criminal charges are getting dropped or dismissed, and they’re getting shuttled into deportation,” said Bridget Kessler, clinical teaching fellow at the Immigration Justice Clinic of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. More here.

Also see the Brooklyn Eagle.

Photos by MK Metz

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Brooklyn Bridge Walkway, with Containment Shields

 If you're walking or biking over the Brooklyn Bridge nowadays, you might feel a little claustrophobic, especially on the eastern stretch. That's because you'll be penned in by galvanized steel containment shields,  built to protect pedestrians and drivers from lead paint dust blowing around as part of the bridge's massive $508 million paint and repair job.

Photo by MK Metz

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Did You Lose a Panasonic Video Camera in Brooklyn Heights?

These signs have been hanging on Cadman Plaza West for weeks.

Come on already, go pick up your camera.

Photo by MK Metz

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Brooklyn's Tea Party Overlord; Before the BQE; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- NY Magazine sums up the gubernatorial debate. NY Magazine 

- Brooklyn Republicans worry about the Brooklyn Tea Party and its "controversial overlord John Press, a Manhattanite who has allegedly expressed his views on White Nationalist websites." Atlas Shrugs in Brooklyn

- "Brooklyn Omnibus," part of BAM's Next Wave Festival isn't really about Brooklyn, "It's about two people from L.A. trying to write about Brooklyn."  WSJ 

- Newark hopes the Nets will stay. NY Times 

- The federal government has recognized the public’s right to take photographs in public spaces outside federal courthouses. Brooklyn Eagle

- A 93-year-old woman recalls a time before the BQE ruined the neighborhood. The Brooklyn Ink

- Blue Marble Ice Cream is closing its store on Atlantic Avenue and is throwing a goodbye party Sunday.  A Child Grows

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Z-7 Cafe on Court Street, Brooklyn - Greek Mini-Diner, Reasonable Prices

 First impression of the newly-opened Z-7 Cafe (spelled "Caffe") at 115 Court Street (where Yogo Monster used to be):

It's your traditional Greek diner but tiny, with just a few tables. The guy behind the counter looks like he's worked in diners all his life. You got your basic sandwiches, your wrap specials, your baked moussaka. Breakfast all day, four soups daily.  Cakes, smoothies, coffee. The Greek salad comes with anchovies and dolmadakia. The health salad comes with jello.

Many items are quite reasonably priced: You can get a chicken salad sandwich for $3.95, egg salad for $3.25.

On the other hand, the Gyro platter is $8.95 (served with rice or potato and salad) and you can go crazy with a "Popeye Salad: ALL THE WAY" -- spinach, crumbled bacon, sliced egg, tomato, artichoke and mushroom, croutons, topped with roast beef or turkey breast -- for $10.45. A wrap can cost up to $8.95.

But coffee is a recession-friendly $1. A bagel is $1 or $1.65 with cream cheese. A two-egg sandwich is $2.75. Get yourself a grilled cheese for $3.25 or splurge on meatloaf for $5.95. Enjoy.

More at Brownstoner and Brooklyn Heights Blog.

Photos by MK Metz

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